Readers are still fired up and sending in letters to the editor about George Zimmerman being acquitted in the killing of Trayvon Martin:

With respect to the trial results, the reasons are multiple but mostly because the state’s attorneys had a weak case and many of the facts were murky. This really was not a racially related case and any attempt to make it so would likely fail on the facts we have to date beyond the speculations of the race-baiters.

Donald C. Austin

Grosse Pointe

Since the shocking verdict of the George Zimmerman trial, many African Americans are finding it difficult to accept the outcome, but they are not alone. Eighteen years ago, when the O.J. Simpson verdict came in, many white Americans felt that he gotten away with murder, and the racial tension was thick back then. Many feel that this case with the killing of Trayvon Martin is different because he is an African-American teenager and his killer, George Zimmerman, was acquitted. Regardless of the fact that Simpson was acquitted with the help of a powerful legal team, he lost in a civil trial that cost him a little more than $33.5 million dollars. Despite the outcome of both cases and their acquittals, the racial apprehension seems to get only worse, and many have lost total trust in America’s judicial system.

Larry Gore Jr.

Detroit

So George Zimmerman “should have no peace”? Is this what passes for reasoned discourse in the Detroit Free Press these days?

I followed the trial in detail and concluded that this case should never have been brought, that there was no probable cause to try Mr. Zimmerman, and that political forces of the highest magnitude were behind the allegations made in the Florida court. The picture of Trayvon Martin published in your paper was most misleading- — it was not that young smiling face that confronted Mr. Zimmerman on that day, and the prosecution successfully kept out of evidence the e-mails of young Mr. Martin. Mr. Zimmerman indeed faced a stacked deck during his trial, including an obviously biased judge. Despite all of this, the jury reached the correct result.

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Richard Eaton

Commerce Township

When someone straps on a loaded gun around their waist, they are no longer on an equal playing field with the rest of America. They feel empowered, a person of authority, protective and yes, at times, like a “wannabe cop,” but without all of the training or experience of a police officer.

If George Zimmerman had not been carrying a concealed weapon, Travyon Martin would be alive.

If you feel strongly about the Zimmerman verdict, write and call your government representatives and tell them you don’t want concealed weapons in your neighborhood, at your town’s summer festival, the bar you go to on Friday night, your kid’s school or anywhere else in your community!

Nicole Lakatos

Plymouth

A jury finding a person not guilty does not mean that the defendant didn’t do anything wrong. “Not guilty” doesn’t mean that the person’s actions were appropriate, that the level of force was appropriate for the situation. Further, Simply, “not guilty” means that the jury determined that the prosecution, through evidence, did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the elements of the charged crime.

As a criminal justice professional, I have often been surprised, and even astounded, by jury decisions. The O.J. Simpson murder trial comes immediately to mind. But I have never said (absent corruption, such as jury-tampering) that a jury made the wrong decision. Only jurors listen to every bit of testimony, see every bit of admitted evidence, view face to face every witness, and then discuss, argue and debate the case with fellow jurors during deliberations. I may believe the jury found a guilty person “not guilty,” but unless I was on the jury, I can’t in good faith say the jury made a wrong decision.

Thomas E. Page

Los Angeles Police Department, retired

Detroit

I am stunned by a column in today’s Free Press. You seemed to leave out a few facts, like Trayvon Martin punched George Zimmerman in the nose or was on top of Zimmerman and beating his head on the ground when he was shot. By you not stating all the facts, you just make this matter worse for everybody. Nobody deserves to be killed. The jury heard the facts and found this man not guilty.

Daniel Karres

Westland

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

Unless: You wear a hoodie; you carry Arizona tea and Skittles; you are not familiar to a self-appointed neighborhood watch patrol person; you have pictures of blowing marijuana smoke on your cell phone; you have gold teeth; you fulfill a stereotype; you defend yourself unarmed, against an armed adult.

Then you have only the right to be subject to stand your ground. And upon death have no one speak for your right to life.